Mediterranean Recipes for a Masterpiece Menu

From starters to sides to main dishes, this menu will take you on a trip to the Mediterranean.

Mediterranean cuisine serves up rich flavors in light ingredients. It's full of fish, fresh fruits and vegetables, oils, legumes, and whole grains, combined in creatively satisfying ways. Take, for example, some grilled bread spread with a creamy roasted-garlic puree and topped with smoked mackerel, arugula, and slices of red onion and tomato. Or try a kid-friendly bulgur salad mixed with roasted vegetables — or get even more basic with roasted new potatoes coated in a black-olive puree. From starters to sides to main dishes, this menu will take you on a trip to the Mediterranean.Learn how to fully adopt the healthy Mediterranean diet and get the nine foods you should eat as staples of the Mediterranean diet food list.

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Open-Face Smoked-Mackerel Sandwiches

Open-Face Smoked-Mackerel Sandwiches

Turks call these sandwiches balik ekmek and make them with grilled fish — like mackerel — from the Bosporus. For his version, Istanbul's star chef, Mehmet Gürs, spreads grilled bread with a creamy roasted-garlic puree and tops it with smoked mackerel, arugula, and slices of red onion and tomato.

Bulgur Salad with Lightly Roasted Vegetables

Bulgur Salad with Lightly Roasted Vegetables

"I love to make this salad with my son," says Mehmet Gürs. "It's so easy, and it can get quite messy, which is fun for a four-year-old." The healthy cracked-wheat salad contains diced, just-tender roasted carrot, red onion and bell pepper, and little pieces of cucumber. Gürs also stirs in tomato paste, which adds richness and sweetness.

Open-Face Smoked-Mackerel Sandwiches

Turks call these sandwiches balik ekmek and make them with grilled fish — like mackerel — from the Bosporus. For his version, Istanbul's star chef, Mehmet Gürs, spreads grilled bread with a creamy roasted-garlic puree and tops it with smoked mackerel, arugula, and slices of red onion and tomato.

Bulgur Salad with Lightly Roasted Vegetables

"I love to make this salad with my son," says Mehmet Gürs. "It's so easy, and it can get quite messy, which is fun for a four-year-old." The healthy cracked-wheat salad contains diced, just-tender roasted carrot, red onion and bell pepper, and little pieces of cucumber. Gürs also stirs in tomato paste, which adds richness and sweetness.

Green Lentil Hummus

For his take on the ubiquitous dip, Mehmet Gürs uses earthy green lentils instead of chickpeas but stirs in a little of hummus's classic ingredient, tahini, for nuttiness. He also likes to flavor his hummus with spices, like cinnamon, or in this case, cumin.

Sea Bass with Tomato and Black Olive Salsa

Soon-to-be celebrity chef and model Sophie Dahl calls this a "good date dinner" because it's elegant yet easy. The Mediterranean-style salsa on the fish — a mix of olives, tomatoes, basil, and lemon juice — would be equally delicious on its own as a salad.

Lentils with Red Wine and Herbs

Sophie Dahl fondly refers to this dish as Paris Mash, because she used to make it in Paris while visiting an artist friend, Annie Morris. With herbs and a scattering of mâche (a sweet and tender green), the stewy lentils become a perfect combination of soup and salad. French green lentils work best here, because they hold their shape when cooked.

Raspberry-and-Fig Cake

"I snagged this dessert from my Scandinavian grandmother," says Mehmet Gürs. "She used a wood-burning oven, a cast-iron skillet, and fresh island berries." Use additional raspberries when figs are not in season.